TV SD Product Service is running a free half-day workshop to explain to machine builders what they need to know about compliance issues when exporting to the European Union (EU) and the USA/Canada. In fact TV SD Product Service believes many attendees will be surprised at some of the similarities and the ease with which compliance with both sets of regulations can be achieved.
The European Machinery Directive, which is implemented in UK law by the Supply of Machinery (Safety) regulations, sets out the minimum safety requirements for placing machinery on the market. The workshop shows how machine builders can comply with this Directive by applying harmonised standards to achieve a presumption of conformity to the Essential Health and Safety Requirements in Annex I of the Machinery Directive.
Furthermore, attendees will see that compliance does not need to be complex. The workshop demonstrates the basics required to prove machinery is complaint and is safe for use before being placed on the market.
The Machinery Directive is equally applicable to machinery manufactured in-house that will never be 'placed on the market' in the conventional sense of that phrase but will be put into first use. This is often overlooked when companies build their own machines.
For machinery being exported to the USA and Canada there are two routes for entry. The first is certification that requires comprehensive testing and production monitoring to be carried out. The second route, for low-volume numbers, is field labelling following a Field Evaluation Survey.
The Field Evaluation Survey must be conducted by a NRTL (Nationally Recognised Testing Laboratory) and testing may only be performed by NRTLs. TV SD has been an OSHA-authorised NRTL since 2001.
Equipment leaving the UK for the USA market must be subjected to a pre-Field Evaluation Survey to compare the differences between the European and North American requirements. This allows for the necessary changes to be made before the item is shipped. A common standard applied for the USA and Canadian markets is NFPA 79 (Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery); for the mechanical hazards, international ISO standards can be applied.
The half-day workshop takes place from 09:00 to 13:00 on 27 June 2018 in Fareham.
Follow the link to find out more and book your place on the free workshop 'Global market access with CE/NRTL focus'.